TEXT: WHITE HOUSE AND CONGRESS NAME MEMBERS TO NEW COMMISSION

(To combat proliferation of weapons of mass destruction) (880)
Washington -- President Clinton announced December 17 that he is
appointing John M. Deutch, Robert T. Gallucci, Dave McCurdy, and
Daniel Poneman to the Commission to Assess the Organization of the
Federal Government to Combat the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass
Destruction.
The commission will be composed of eight members, four appointed by
the President and four by Congress.
The four Congressional appointments to the commission are Senator
Arlen Specter, James Exon, Henry Cooper, and Anthony Beilensen.
The White House announcement said the FY97 Intelligence Authorization
Act called for the establishment of the Commission.
"The commission is charged with studying the current organization of
the U.S. government, including the intelligence community," the White
House said, "to deal with the threat posed by the proliferation of
weapons of mass destruction and to make recommendations to Congress on
steps to improve the effectiveness of the U.S. government in dealing
with this threat."
Following is the White House text:
(begin text)
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
December 17, 1997
PRESIDENT CLINTON APPOINTS JOHN M. DEUTCH, ROBERT GALLUCCI, DAVE
MCCURDY, AND DANIEL PONEMAN TO THE COMMISSION TO ASSESS THE
ORGANIZATION OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO COMBAT THE PROLIFERATION OF
WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION
CONGRESS APPOINTS SENATOR ARLEN SPECTER, JAMES EXON, ANTHONY C.
BEILENSON, AND HENRY F. COOPER TO THE COMMISSION TO ASSESS THE
ORGANIZATION OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO COMBAT THE PROLIFERATION OF
WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION
The FY97 Intelligence Authorization Act calls for the establishment of
a Commission to Assess the Organization of the Federal Government to
Combat the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction. The
commission is charged with studying the current organization of the
U.S. government, including the intelligence community, to deal with
the threat posed by the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction
and to make recommendations to Congress on steps to improve the
effectiveness of the U.S. government in dealing with this threat.
The commission will be composed of eight members, four appointed by
the President and four by Congress.
President Clinton today announced that he is appointing John M.
Deutch, Robert T. Gallucci, Dave McCurdy, and Daniel Poneman to the
Commission.
John M. Deutch of Massachusetts has spent most of his recent time in a
variety of positions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Formerly, Mr. Deutch was the Director of Central Intelligence. Prior
to his appointment at CIA, Mr. Deutch served as Deputy Secretary of
Defense, and the Under Secretary of Defense, and Under Secretary of
Defense for Acquisition.
Robert L. Gallucci of Virginia is currently the Dean of the School of
Foreign Service at Georgetown University. Before joining the faculty
at Georgetown, Mr. Gallucci was a career civil servant in the
Department of State and served as Ambassador at Large during his
tenure as Assistant Secretary of State for Political Military Affairs.
Dave McCurdy of Oklahoma is former U.S. Representative from Oklahoma.
During his time in the House, Mr. McCurdy was a member of the House
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and worked issues related
to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
Daniel Poneman of Ohio is Counsel at the law firm of Hogan & Hartson,
resident in the firm's Washington, D.C. office. Mr. Poneman recently
served as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for
Nonproliferation and Export Controls at the National Security Council
and chaired the Interagency Working Group for Nonproliferation and
Export Controls.
The four Congressional appointments to the commission are Senator
Arlen Specter, James Exon, Henry Cooper, and Anthony Beilensen.
Senator Arlen Specter (appointed by Senate Majority Leader Lott) is
the senior United States Senator from Pennsylvania and author of the
legislation to create the Commission. He is the former Chairman of the
Senate Select Committee on Intelligence where he directed the
Committee's attention to issues of proliferation and terrorism.
Senator Specter is currently Chairman of the Senate Committee on
Veterans' Affairs and a member of the Judiciary, Appropriations and
Government Affairs Committee.
J. James Exon of Nebraska (appointed by Senate Minority Leader
Daschle) retired from the U.S. Senate in 1997, after serving three
terms. He was a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and an
influential voice in the Congress on matters regarding the military,
particularly strategic issues. Senator Exon also served as the Senate
Budget and Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committees. He
previously served as the Governor of Nebraska from 1970-1978.
Henry F. (Hank) Cooper (appointed by House Speaker Gingrich) is
Chairman of Applied Research Associates, Inc., Chairman of High
Frontier, Senior Associate of the National Institute of Public Policy,
Visiting Fellow to the Heritage Foundation, and a private consultant.
He has spent about half of his career in government service and about
half in the private sector.
Anthony C. Beilenson of California (appointed by House Minority Leader
Gephardt) served 20 years in the U.S. House of Representatives. Mr.
Beilenson chaired the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
for two years and promoted bipartisan cooperation on that committee.
Mr. Beilenson was also an influential member of the House Rules
Committee for nearly 20 years, active on budget, intelligence and
House floor issues.
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